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Sunday, November 13, 2016

Is the lack of self-control in social media descending us into darkness?

That’s an important question for today’s world. And let me be clear, I am not blaming the channels in social media but only posting a question.

Is social media the new herd mentality?

Are we losing the ability to understand?

Have we lost the ability to be tolerant?

Can we regain the ability to find the good in others?

Is it possible to listen for understanding and not just hear to respond?

What happened to the two sides of the same coin understanding?

I am neither wise enough or have enough hubris even to try to answer these questions.

But that never stopped me before.

Words are important, and that is something that I can think we can all agree. How one uses words not only in the content but contextually, can significantly influence a positive or negative perception of the issue.

Words can drive an individual to take action, become motivated, inspire and in some cases by the contextual environment communicated with the phrase become life-changing. And we all know that words can unintentionally by use and connotation reach a pretty high giggle factor, raising more questions than answers. In some case, words conveying a position on a topic become oxymoronic resulting in a negative image. Words can drive hate.

With that in mind, how would you rate your use of words?

An important question as I see more each day of individuals using words that don’t say anything. Lots of squiggles on a page intended to convey information but mostly say the same thing over and over again. I increasingly see the use of opinion based jargon instead of facts to cover up any real meaning.

Do we have the ability to understand, think twice and write once?

Words matter.

Michael is a healthcare marketing business, marketing, and communications strategist and thought leader. As an internationally followed healthcare marketing strategy blogger, his blog, Healthcare Marketing Matters receives over 20,000 page views a month and read in 52 countries. He is a Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives, Professional Certified Marketer, American Marketing Association and HubSpot Academy- Email Marketing, Inbound Marketing & Inbound Sales Certified. Post opinions are my own.

1 comment:

I agree, social media is not to blame but the use of social media is out of control in certain aspects. The lost art of being thoughtful about what you say and how you say it has gone out the window. Social media has given voice to some irrational and impetuous rants that cause real damage. I attempt to work through my word choice to convey real meaing and provide clear direction or insight into the situation. This is an important topic as we tend to trend social media in particular as foroum that needs no curation or has any consequences.Thanks for the post.